The JKU's new campaign, “Wissen wollen”, aims to inspire young people to enroll at a university that offers “much more than an academic title”.

Those who want more than just a quick "thumbs up" or a momentary "like", the JKU offers something of enduring, immaterial value in our fast-moving and transient world: knowledge. JKU Rector Stefan Koch remarked: “Education at the JKU Linz is a comprehensive academic experience. Our students not only acquire professional expertise, we encourage them to be inquisitive and think across the boundaries of their respective subject areas. The JKU is a place to put your own ideas into practice, broaden your knowledge and horizons, and grow both personally and professionally.”

Reflected in both education and research, the JKU's diverse academic degree programs in engineering, natural sciences, business, social sciences, economics, law, medicine and education have been designed to foster core 21^st century skills and set new standards in interdisciplinary and virtual education. Examples include the JKU medSPACE at the JKU’s MEDcampus (JKU Faculty of Medicine), celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, and the popular Artificial Intelligence degree program, introduced in 2019 and one of the first of its kind offered in Europe. The strong enrollment numbers for new students during the 2023/2024 academic year is a testament to the innovative degree programs available.

“Conduct research in the areas that drive your curiosity”
JKU scholars from across all disciplines are conducting research focused on new innovations to make our lives better. Over the past years, the JKU has increasingly focused on Digital Transformation and Sustainable Development as two university-wide priorities. Research in these areas demands close and effective teamwork across multiple disciplines in an effort to create solutions that can address the complex challenges of our time.

A few successful JKU research accomplishments from the past few years:

· AI pioneer Sepp Hochreiter and his team won the 2024 Austrian Science Fund “Cluster of Excellence” for their research on “bilateral AI”. In 2023, two clusters of excellence involving the JKU were approved (“QuantA” to support quantum research with the JKU Institute of Semiconductor Physics, and a cluster to support research on microbiomes with the JKU Institute of Biophysics and the Department of Internal Medicine with a focus on Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the JKU’s Faculty of Medicine).

· In 2023, JKU researcher Richard Küng was presented with an ERC Starting Grant for his work in quantum research.

· Also, in 2023, JKU researcher Stephan Pühringer received an Austrian Science Fund START Prize in recognition of his project, “SETER”, focusing on sustainable socio-economic transitions.

· In 2021, under the leadership of Martina Seidl and Günter Klambauer, a team of JKU scholars and researchers used artificial intelligence to devise a method for flood prediction.

· Under the leadership of Martina Mara, researchers at the JKU LIT Robopsychology Lab have been studying human-robot the interaction for years. In 2023, they partnered with musician “Blonder Engel” to write a song about AI, aimed at raising more awareness on the subject.

· The LIT Open Innovation Center's test factory is exploring sustainable plastics that are intended to one day be fully recyclable.

“Wanting to Learn Instead of Having to Learn”
The JKU is for those who aspire to grow intellectually, both for themselves and to benefit society. The new campaign conveys this idea using humorous, colorful subjects with slogans such as “Mehr Science, weniger Fiction” or “Bunte Vielfalt in die grauen Zellen bringen”.

The new campaign will be rolled out in two separate series. The first series focuses on the campaign’s main message and the tagline “Wissen wollen”. The second series will promote specific academic degree programs offered at the JKU.

The new campaign was created in partnership with DDB, opens an external URL in a new window, a creative agency based in Vienna.

Learn more: jku.at/wissen-wollen

Information about the “Wissen wollen” image campaign:

· Period: June to August 2024

· Target areas: Central Upper Austria (16 sheet posters and city lights), as well as throughout Austria, Bavaria, and South Tyrol (online and social media ads)

· Formats: 16 sheet posters, city lights, digital city lights, as well as online and social media ads

· Implementation in collaboration with the DDB creative agency from Vienna;